The rise of AI-generated abuse and digital harassment has rapidly outpaced the laws designed to protect victims. Survivors are increasingly targeted through the nonconsensual creation and distribution of deepfake pornography—highly realistic digital depictions that make it appear as if a person is engaging in sexual activity when they are not. Until now, many states, including Colorado, lacked clear and enforceable remedies for victims of this emerging form of cyber sexual abuse.
But that’s changing.
On June 2, 2025, Colorado passed SB25-288, a groundbreaking new law that creates both civil and criminal remedies for the misuse of intimate digital depictions, including synthetic content created through generative AI or image-editing software. The law was developed with input from victims’ rights advocates, including Allison Mahoney, a Colorado cyber harassment attorney and policy leader in the fight against online abuse.
This new legislation places Colorado at the forefront of protecting victims of digital sexual exploitation—and provides meaningful tools for both survivors and the attorneys who represent them.
What SB25-288 Does
A. Expands Civil Remedies
SB25-288 creates a private right of action for individuals harmed by intimate deepfakes and other nonconsensual, digitally altered sexual content. Specifically, the law applies when a person “discloses or threatens to disclose a highly realistic but false visual depiction” of another person that “has been created, altered, or produced by generative AI, image editing software, or computer-generated means.”
In these cases, a successful plaintiff can recover:
- The defendant’s monetary gain from the intimate digital depiction;
- Actual damages or liquidated damages of up to $150,000;
- Punitive damages for especially egregious conduct;
- Attorney fees and court costs;
- And injunctive relief, such as a court order requiring the defendant to stop disclosing or threatening to disclose the content.
This provides survivors with both financial relief and legal tools to prevent further harm. It also makes clear that even digitally fabricated images, if they are made to look real, are no less harmful—and no less actionable.
B. Updates Colorado’s Criminal Laws
SB25-288 also modernizes Colorado’s criminal code to address the growing misuse of synthetic sexual imagery:
- It updates the state’s sexual exploitation of a child statute to include “realistic computer-generated digital depictions that are obscene,” ensuring that AI-generated child sexual abuse material is criminalized even when no real child is depicted.
- It expands two key existing offenses—posting a private intimate image for harassment and posting a private intimate image for pecuniary gain—to include the disclosure or threat to disclose an intimate digital depiction, including deepfakes.
These changes will make it significantly easier for prosecutors to charge perpetrators who use deepfake pornography as a weapon of harassment, blackmail, or abuse—something that was legally ambiguous under older statutes.
Why This Law Matters
SB25-288 fills a critical legal gap. Survivors of cyber sexual abuse have long struggled to find adequate remedies when their likenesses were exploited using emerging technology. AI-generated pornography and synthetic nudes have caused widespread trauma, reputational harm, and psychological distress—yet many victims were previously told there was “nothing the law could do.”
That’s no longer the case in Colorado.
This law offers civil attorneys and prosecutors powerful new tools to hold perpetrators accountable. It affirms that digital abuse is real abuse—and that the law must evolve to meet the threat. Colorado has now positioned itself as a national leader in confronting the dangers of AI-fueled cyber harassment.
What to Do If You’ve Been Targeted
If you believe someone has created or distributed an intimate deepfake of you—whether to harass, humiliate, extort, or control—you are not alone, and you are not powerless.
Here’s what to do:
- Preserve evidence: Save screenshots, URLs, emails, or messages involving the image or threats to distribute it. Even if the image is digitally altered or appears to have been removed, documentation is key.
- Contact a Colorado cyber harassment attorney: You may be entitled to financial compensation, court-ordered removal, and additional protections under SB25-288 and related laws.
At ALM Law, we represent survivors of cyber sexual abuse, including those targeted by synthetic sexual content. We help clients:
- Assert their rights while law enforcement investigates or brings criminal charges;
- File civil lawsuits under this new Colorado law and other state and federal remedies;
- Take down abusive content through DMCA notices, deindexing from Google and other search engines, and coordination with hosting platforms.
Conclusion
By enacting SB25-288, Colorado has taken a bold and necessary step to protect survivors and restore control over their digital identities. The law recognizes that synthetic images can cause real harm, and that the legal system must evolve to ensure accountability.
We applaud Colorado for being proactive, forward-thinking, and survivor-centered in expanding its laws to confront the realities of AI-generated abuse. If you or someone you know has been harmed by a deepfake or other form of intimate digital depiction, legal options are now available—and ALM Law is here to help.